The Drunk Kai Incident
by Zadien
Summary: ONESHOT! His warm, sweet scented breath wafted over her neck, she shivered and forced her gaze to meet his. His eyes were blistering and hot as he watched her intently. “Is that what you think of me? That I do nothing but get drunk?”


**Dislcimaer**: I don't own Beyblade but the plot is mine. I also don't own Lacuna Coil or their lyrics.

**Warning**: Kai is a little –a lot- OOC in this fic.

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The Drunk Kai Incident

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_There's no time to deny that I need you._

_And I'll be there to repair your delightful days._

_There's no time to deny that I need you._

_That's why I'll be there to relieve your painful days._

Lacuna Coil - Devoted

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Amber was typing up her assignment for English when the door opened and Kai Hiwatari stumbled in. For a moment, she stared at him, confused as to why the two toned bluenette was leaning against the doorjamb, gasping out a laugh and clutching his side in hilarity of the situation. Her lips parted as she suddenly got a good look at his glazed eyes and her nose wrinkled in vague disgust at the stench of alcohol wafting off of the boy but in all honesty, all she could do was feel mild pity for the teen. It didn't matter how smart, witty and good-looking Kai was, deep inside he was as fucked up as the next person.

She sighed softly, looking to her document before pressing save and unfolding her legs so she could inch forward across the table she liked to sit on when she was working. "Tala?"

There was a grunt from one of the rooms down the hall, which she assumed meant her 'friend'/client had heard her shout. A quick glance at Kai showed that he looked to be just shy of passing out or planning to upchuck all over the kitchen floor. A nurse's daughter she might be but Amber had a low tolerance for stomach contents expelled in front of her.

"Tala! Can you come out here?"

"What?!" Came the irate retort. Obviously Tala was busy and didn't want to be disturbed. He had probably reached a difficult level on the game he'd been playing when she left him to go work on her homework. Why teachers insisted she try to tutor the red head was beyond her, after all, Tala wasn't stupid. He was in the top percentile of the grades so he didn't need tutoring but when it came to something that didn't involve numbers or cold clean facts, Tala just couldn't seem to wrap his head around it. So here she was hoping to help him get through another semester of English; she figured it could count towards her good deed of the year.

She glanced at Kai warily, noting that he was still slumped in the doorway to Tala's kitchen with no intention of venturing further when he was still in the throes of a vicious fit of giggles. Giggles! She never thought she'd see the day when Kai Hiwatari dissolved into giggles. It was a sure sign that something was very, very wrong.

"Tala! Would you come here, please?"

"Why?"

"Uh, because Kai's drunk as a skunk." That should get a reaction, she decided as she swung her feet casually.

"Skunk," Kai repeated and the hilarity ensued.

"Yeah, skunk." She reiterated tiredly, pushing the laptop off her lap and onto the table as she shimmied to the edge of the table. "You want to sit down or something Kai?"

He looked at her, tried to focus –in such an adorable manner that she wanted for a moment to hug him, but the need to knock some common sense into her sometimes friend, overrode that desire- before nodding sloppily. "Yeah, yeah I'll sit down."

He took a step forward and missed... it was the only way to explain how one minute he was standing and the minute he was flat on his face on the floor. How someone could miss a floor beggared belief because it was a floor, a normal lino floor stretching from one wall to another. It didn't have any gaps or stumbling blocks to trick the unassuming walker; then again, he was drunk. Quite incredibly drunk.

"Shit." She hissed out under her breath as she slid to the ground and approached his stretched out body. "Hiwatari, are... you ok?" A redundant question because obviously he wasn't but it would be a shame if he broke his nose or hit his head... well he could do with a good knock to the head to give him some sense, she supposed.

"Mm." Kai murmured, smacking his lips. His head was turned to the side and giving it a quick look over, she was happy to report that he seemed to have suffered no real damage to his face. His brain was another matter entirely but she figured he couldn't be any worse than he was.

Warily, she crept closer and kneeling beside him, she pressed two fingers tentatively against his neck in search of his carotid pulse. Good, strong, a little fast but nothing to be too concerned about. She pried open his eye lids and noted the pupils didn't seem to behaving oddly, which meant it was just alcohol consumption that had affected his state of mind and not any kind of drug. At least she didn't think he was high on anything. She was a nurse's daughter, not a nurse.

"What's wrong?" Tala wondered, striding in wearing a pair of loose sweatpants and nothing else. She quirked a brow and then noted his hair was damp and hanging around his face, not in the usual gravity defying style and there was a towel around his neck, bringing attention to the rivulets of water running down his toned chest. She idly wondered if Kai's chest looked similar. He was a little bulkier around the shoulders than Tala who was quite lanky and Tala was a little taller than Kai, but they were both toned and healthy specimens of maleness. Pity she just saw Tala as Tala and nothing else.

"Shit hell, what the flying crap happened to him?" Tala demanded, yanking open a cupboard over head and pulling out a glass, the harsh fluorescent light just seemed to illuminate the blue veins under his white skin tone. Tala was made up of vivid colors as if God himself had wanted to create the most striking of people: Turquoise eyes, scarlet hair and snow white skin. If someone were to stick Tala in a crowd, he would make everyone else look grey.

Amber jerked a shoulder. "He's drunk and that's all I know. He wasn't really in the mood to give me a full diagnostic."

"Your sarcasm isn't really appreciated right now, Benz."

"Yeah, I didn't think so. Hey Kai, are you at least conscious? Open your eyes for me, will you? I want to make sure that you haven't hit your head."

"Shit's sake Amber, he didn't actually hit his head, did he?" Tala demanded, pulling open a drawer and taking out a packet of aspirin.

"Um, no. He landed quite magnificently on his face and I think the lino took most of the impact." It was kind of spongy, she mused as she pressed her knuckles into the strange floor covering. At home, her kitchen was made up of terracotta colored tiles and if Kai had face planted on that... well, he wouldn't be looking quite so pretty.

"Grab his feet." Tala ordered, as he nudged Amber out of the way so he could hook his hands under Kai's arms and lift him off the floor. Amber scuttled to Kai's feet and gingerly took a hold on them, hoping he hadn't seen fit to stamp on any dog doo-doo or anything else. Holding the feet tight, so that they didn't jerk and break _her_ nose, she began to follow Tala out of the kitchen and down the hall towards Tala's bedroom.

"Why do you think he decided to get drunk?"

Tala simply shook his head. "He does that from time to time but never like this."

"Oh." Shows how much she knew about her one-time next-door neighbor. Oh she knew he drank, every teenager seemed to do that, so that wasn't surprising and Kai liked to sneak out to parties when his grandfather was away so she figured he got drunk then too but not at ten o'clock in the morning. That was just insane and scary. Scary and insane. "Poor Kai."

Tala snorted. "I don't think he'd appreciate your sympathy."

"Oh? Is my sympathy not as good as everyone else's? Besides, Kai and I used to be friends, you know."

"Yeah, I know. He talks about you sometimes. You lived next-door, right?"

"Yeah, before his granddad decided that it would be good for Kai to live with him, you know after... well you know."

Tala nodded and Amber figured he knew what she didn't want to mention. Since she had adored Kai's mother, it had hit her hard as well when Jean had died of heart failure at just 35 years of age. People had said that she had died of heartbreak since she and her husband Nicolai had been very much in love. Nicolai had died in a car crash just eight years earlier when she and Kai had been three. She didn't remember Nicolai, just impressions here and there, but when Jean had died, it had nearly broken Kai.

Since then, he had been living with his grandfather on the other edge of town and the boy she had spent the majority of her time with became the guy who barely noticed her at school. He had fallen in with the popular crowd and she had found her own niche amongst the social pariahs. That made them sound more dynamic than they were though; her friends were just nice people who didn't really fit in one social clique, hence why the majority of them flitted between a few groups, but always came back to their friends.

They entered the bedroom, purely masculine filled with posters of half naked women with breasts that looked to have been inflated like beach balls and cars Tala would never be able to afford. They approached the king sized bed –far too big for just one person- covered in a navy duvet with paler blues pillows and dumped Kai upon it, earning a grunt from the suffering boy.

"Kai." Tala sighed, dropping down upon the computer chair and propping his feet up onto the bed across from him.

Amber looked around restlessly before deciding that the bed really was too big for just one person, so she flopped down upon it, idly poking Kai's sock clad foot. "He looks miserable. He's been looking miserable for the past couple of years but... how did he get this bad?"

"There are a lot of things you don't know, Benz. Kai's a different guy from the one you knew."

"Yeah you're telling me. He doesn't even say hello to me in the corridor anymore."

"He has his reasons." Tala muttered, averting his gaze to the view outside the window. With a grim look, he spun to the computer and shook the mouse, bringing the screen to life.

Amber shot him a look before snorting softly. So Kai had reasons for blanking her in the corridor. Nice.

"Ember."

Her head snapped to the slumbering figure, surprise seeping into her features when she saw him studying her out of heavy lidded, liquid brown eyes, with a soft smile curving his lips. His hand lifted to reach for her only to drop to the bed as if it was too heavy.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" She asked, shifting onto her knees so she could get a better look at him. He was still drunk, the glazed look remained in his eyes and he was _smiling_ –nothing short of a neon sign over his head reading 'drunk' could be any clearer.

"Hey."

"Kai." Tala's voice was sharp in comparison to their softer tones. "Do you know where you are?"

Kai slowly angled his head to look at Tala. "What're you-?" He squeezed his eyes shut and groaned. "What did I do?"

"You showed up drunk." Tala told him in a no-nonsense tone, handing Kai two pills and after Kai popped them in his mouth, Tala held the glass of water to his mouth so he could swallow them.

"Yeah, I was drinking." Kai finally said when he could speak again.

"No shit Sherlock." Amber added in her two cents. There was a tension to the room that was making her feel awkward. Part of her was saying that she should go and leave them to chat about what obviously needed to be talked about, while the other part was insisting she stay and spend some more time with Kai. It wasn't like she got to see him that much and something was definitely bothering him. Was it so wrong that she wanted to know what that was?

Kai stared at her disquietly before groaning and rolling over, pulling the pillow over his head. "Aw crap."

Tala snorted but it was an amused snort that changed into a reluctant chuckle. Somehow Amber felt as though she had missed a joke somewhere along the lines. She hated that feeling.

"Um..." She looked nervously between the two boys before pouting and plucking at the duvet. She halted her movements, something was wrong and she wanted to know what it was. "Kai-pai, what's going on?"

Curiously, Kai lifted the pillow from his head to peer at her; then he rolled over and grinned at her, tugging a quick response from her heart.

"Ah for crying out loud, Benz." Tala groaned, raising a hand to press at his forehead.

"He's dead, Tala." Kai suddenly blurted out with a grin. "He's dead. Dead. The fucking bastard's dead. I can do whatever I want, see whoever I want, date whoever I damn well please and he can't do a thing, because he's... dead!"

Amber's brow furrowed as Tala's eyes widened. Who was dead? Who... oh. "Vol-" she broke off unable to say the name of Kai's grandfather and she certainly didn't want to call him Kai's grandfather since the relationship wasn't wanted. "_Him_?"

But before she could get an answer, Kai was asleep once more. Well it wasn't as if she needed him to answer. She had someone else who would know just as much as Kai knew and who would volunteer more comprehensive information.

"He can't be dead." Tala was muttering on loop. "It just can't be that easy."

Easy? Ha, the bugger had been alive longer than he should have been according to Amber but no point dancing on the man's grave until she was sure he was dead. Picking up her phone, she dialed in a familiar number.

"James Benson's office."

"Hey Pappy dearest, tell me this: Is..." She still couldn't bring herself to say the bastards' name, "...the auld fart dead?" She figured that her father could decipher that nickname easily enough. She rarely called many people an 'auld fart'; she liked to reserve that nickname for particularly awful old people.

"I take it you are referring to Voltaire Hiwatari?" See, how could her father say the vile demon's name so easily and she couldn't?

"Yeah, him."

"He's dead. Died of a heart attack in his bed."

"Please tell me it was a vicious heart attack!" So sue her, she hated the man even if she didn't really know him and had never really interacted with him; the old coot had scared the crap out of her just by looking at her. It was strange though, her father worked for Hiwatari and they had a good working relationship but old man Hiwatari had hated her. Even as a child she had been able to read that emotion in his cold, cruel eyes. She figured children had good instincts when it came to people and hers screamed that old man Hiwatari was the evilest bogey man she would ever come across.

"Amber! That's no way to speak of the dead."

"I wasn't speaking of the regular dead," She muttered but she felt thoroughly reproached by her father's appall. "So he's dead then? Like dead dead, no coming back from the grave, no waking up and seeing him come out of the shower... oh ew. That's... ew."

Behind her she heard Tala snort out a laugh as she blushed hotly. Ok, she didn't mean it to sound like that. Her father's laugh came rolling down the line and she wished she could be swallowed by the ground.

"I meant like in Dallas; shit I don't want to see auld fart naked."

"Amber." Her father scolded lightly. "He died in his sleep and Kai found him this morning."

"Oh," She breathed, well that would explain why Kai was in such an interesting mood. It couldn't have been nice finding his grandfather cold in his bed and what an anticlimactic death. After the way he treated Kai, he could have gone a different way but even as she thought it, she felt a bit guilty for thinking it. "Well thanks for telling me dad."

"Do you know where Kai is?"

"Yeah he's here with Tala. Um, I suppose you'll need to see him later or something." What happened when someone died? All she remembered after Jean's death was the funeral, a lot of crying –her mother had been inconsolable- and many cups of tea. Everyone seemed to drink tea after the funeral. And then there had been Kai dressed in a black suit that made him look entirely too grown up and he hadn't cried, she remembered that so vividly. He had been so sad but he didn't cry as his grandfather stood at his side directing him on what to do or how to react. It was shortly after that, that Kai had grown so distant. Even when he had come to say goodbye to her mother and her, before he moved to his grandfather's, he had been so stoic and unapproachable. It was suddenly as though he had gone to this place that she could never reach. And that had hurt.

"It's ok; we'll sort all of that out later. If I need anything, I can contact one of his daughters."

"Um ok, then. I'll talk to you later, dad."

"Ok, bye."

"Bye." She whispered, hanging up the phone and turning to face Tala. "So he's officially dead and Kai found him this morning."

"Shit. Come on," Tala commanded, getting to his feet. "Let him sleep it off and then he can decide what he's going to do. He'll be eighteen in August so he'll be legally an adult but until then, I don't know what he'll do."

Amber followed him out into the hall, casting a quick longing glance back at Kai. He had it so hard, she mused and she didn't really know all of it because they hadn't spoken properly since they were eleven. Though she'd never admit it to anyone, she kind of missed their strange friendship.

"Do you want to watch a DVD or something?" Tala wondered, moving into the kitchen and procuring a bottle of soda from the fridge.

"Um, maybe I should just go home." After all, she didn't want to intrude, even if her curiosity was just dying to know what was going on. Except she knew now; Kai got drunk after finding his grandfather dead, but she was curious as to what he would do now. He was finally free, she supposed.

"Nah, stay. He'll probably want to apologize for scaring you."

"He didn't scare me," She quickly pointed out but faltered under Tala's steady look. "Well, a little but I mean, I can understand...sort of."

He huffed out a laugh as he headed into the den, motioning for her to follow. Having been here a couple of times, she figured she knew her way around the place by now and she felt pretty comfortable slouching along the couch waiting while Tala chose a film. He popped in a DVD before taking a seat on the recliner and stretching out as the opening credits began to play.

* * *

She didn't know when she fell asleep but she woke up feeling startlingly refreshed, curled up on the sofa holding a cushion tightly to her chest in lieu of her teddy-bear. For a moment, she stared up at the ceiling overhead wondering just where she was but soon recognition sparked in her brain and she let out a soft sigh. She was at Tala's and Kai had been drunk after finding out his grandfather was dead. Joy. As she lay there, she pondered just how long she'd been sleeping. Had Kai woken up yet?

She rolled onto her side and felt the world give beneath her before she hit the ground. She groaned loudly. Well done Amber, she thought snidely, as she began to push herself up off the ground and onto her hands and knees.

"Nice landing, Ember." Ah, she thought with a smile, Kai sounded back to normal. His voice was as monotonous as ever and laced with arrogance.

She blew her bangs out of her face and looked up at him. He was sitting in Tala's recliner looking immaculate, though his skin was paler than usual but his eyes were clearer and despite the bruises under them, he looked good, sober.

"Hiwatari you slay me with your wit," she huffed, shifting herself onto her ass and folding her legs in front of her, Indian style. "Besides, your face plant earlier wasn't the epitome of grace."

"Did you swallow the dictionary in my absence?"

She pulled down her lower eye lid and stuck out her tongue. "Nyah!"

He blinked and slowly his lips began to curve into a reluctantly amused smirk before he gave up and began to chuckle. She watched stunned as he laughed because as far as she could ever remember, he'd never been one for laughing; though that was understandable given the circumstances. His laughter died down but he continued to smile –though she wasn't quite sure if that was just because he was suffering from shock or maybe the after-effects of the alcohol in his system.

"Are you ok?" She blurted out. "I mean I can understand if you're not because, wow that must have been a shock to see your... well _him _and while I'm thrilled –well not really because he's still dead- but... yeah." She finished lamely, ducking her head so she could study her fingers. Kai probably didn't need her babbling stupidly at him.

"I'm fine, Ember. Better than fine really."

"Oh? Well yay, but..." she trailed off, scratching the back of her neck as she tried to figure out why he would be so... content because that's what he looked. He looked content and well rested –despite the pallor and bags under his eyes. "Um, are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. He's dead Ember; do you know what that means?"

"No more lectures?" She suggested though honestly she wasn't really sure because she didn't know much about what had happened ever since he went to live with Voltaire.

"Well yes, there won't be any more of those, at least not from him. Tala's pretty good at giving them as well, though."

"Yeah, well you did stumble in the door and face plant on the floor, so I think he has the right to complain. I think you scared him."

"What about you?"

"Me?" She squeaked. What about her? She didn't face plant on the floor –well apart from a moment ago but that couldn't really count because she hadn't realized how close to the floor she had been.

"Did I scare you?"

She started to shake her head only to decide that she should be honest at least, so she slowly began to nod. "Kind of. I heard you drank but I didn't realize it was to such an extent. You do realize you're killing off your organs and your brain cells and that they're all kind of vital to a healthy physical and mental life, right?"

He smirked. "I won't need to drink as much now."

"Because he kicked the bucket?"

Kai winced; then smiled ruefully. "Yes because he kicked the bucket... jeez, Ember, I forgot how eloquent you can be."

She bit her lip. She didn't mean to be so flippant but when she was nervous or unsure of what to say, she found that people generally didn't take too much offence when you approached something in a light hearted manner. Then again, everyone was different, so maybe she had offended Kai, she hadn't meant to though.

"Sorry."

"I won't miss him, you know." Kai mused quietly, leaning back in the seat with his legs stretched out. "He was a bastard and treated me like his personal servant. He never let me do what I wanted to do. He rarely approved of any of my friends and he kept making allusions to arranged marriages for me."

Amber frowned, shifting to her knees so she could get a closer look at her childhood friend. "Arranged marriages? Like... he picks out who you marry?"

"For money, sure. A daughter of a rich conglomerate would make more money for Hiwatari corp."

Her brows rose substantially. "Seriously? Why? Well I get why but, surely he could have bought shares or something or maybe you should have got him a hobby or something."

"Yeah stamp collecting, that would have changed everything." He deadpanned.

"Well at least you're free to make your own choices now, right? I mean you're free."

He smiled proudly. "See, I knew you'd understand." He patted her head like a favorite child causing her glower at him but he ignored the look, in order to trail his fingers through her hair, his eyes growing dark and hooded. She shivered when his fingers ran over her scalp and tickled against her neck. For some reason, it always felt so good when someone played with her hair. When she had been a child she could sit for hours while her mother brushed her hair. It was only when she was late for meeting Kai that she would grow restless.

"So, uh," Man it was hard to concentrate when someone was tugging at the loose strands of her hair. She blinked and tried to concentrate, but it was difficult. "Yeah, so now you're free, what's your first order of business?"

"I'm going to hold a party in his house."

"Well gee that's going to help you stop your drinking."

He grinned at her. "You're invited, by the way."

"Woot. What, are we suddenly going to be friends again?" She queried dryly, tilting her head into his touch.

His expression sobered and he untangled his hand from her hair. "I'm sorry I treated you so bad."

Well, that was shocking. Kai Hiwatari apologizing. Amber was quite frankly stunned by his admission.

"But I'm free to do what _I_ want now. No more of his threats and I can be friends with who I want to be friends with. He doesn't control me anymore."

"You haven't seen his will yet." Tala pointed out quietly from behind us and she scooted around so she could see him standing behind the sofa with his arms braced against it.

Kai studied him for a moment, but there was a flash of something hot in those eyes that made Amber frown. Again she felt as though there was a conversation going on over her head that she wasn't privy to.

"He doesn't know." Kai finally said.

"You were good, I'll give you that, but the old man, he's sly."

"What are you guys talking about?" Amber asked, her confusion rising as she saw the contentedness leak slowly out of Kai's eyes. Something was wrong.

"Hey Benz, shouldn't you be heading home?"

Amber's eyes lifted to the clock above the mantel piece reading that it was now two in the afternoon. With a sigh, she nodded and slowly got to her feet. "Yeah, I'll um, see you guys around."

"Come to the party, Ember."

She waved a hand in Kai's direction, allowing him to take what meaning he wanted from it but she already knew she wasn't going to any party in the Hiwatari mansion. It would just be too creepy and too strange to be there with the people Kai called friends.

* * *

Despite her decision not to go, when the night of the party came around, Amber found herself in the middle of the crowded mansion dubiously studying the people gathered there. It quickly became apparent that this wasn't her scene. Not that she had really believed she would fit in with these people anyway but she had been invited –she'd received an invitation in the mail two days after what she liked to refer to as 'the Drunk Kai Incident'. Curiosity had compelled her to at least go and see what made the Kai parties so popular amongst the student body and she was quickly beginning to understand. Alcohol and spare rooms seemed to be the appeal.

She had only been there twenty minutes and already she had seen two couples slip upstairs and she doubted Kai would care what rooms they used –she had been informed several times that he never cleaned the place up after himself. Oh no, that was left to the cleanup crews and the servants.

She supposed she could understand Kai's desire to throw wild parties that wasted a ton of money on teenagers who really didn't appreciate it, but took advantage of it none the less. After all, it wasn't as if he was being spoilt as a Hiwatari; he paid for every advantage he got in life by putting up with his grandfather, so he probably saw the parties as payment for the time he invested.

She shifted uneasily in her spot before gathering her courage. All she had to do was find Kai, say hello and split. It was that simple, she mused, the only difficulty was actually finding Kai who hadn't shown his face since she'd arrived. Pushing away from the wall where other equally uncomfortable teenagers stood, she began to weave her way through the crowd only to find herself yanked unceremoniously to the side. Stumbling, she came to a stop in the middle of the dance room and looked around for her attacker.

"Amber!"

"Mariah." She looked at the perky pink haired girl dubiously.

It didn't surprise her that Mariah Wong would be here. She was the atypical cheerleader type –not the mean movie type, more Kirsten Dunst from _Bring It On_, only not blonde- with a bubbly personality and cheerful disposition. The one thing that stopped her from being annoying was the fact that Mariah could be awfully catty against those she chose to dislike or who got on the wrong side of her. Luckily Amber could say that she was on neither of those lists. For some reason, Mariah Wong had deigned to befriend her on the very first day of kindergarten and the girls had managed to remain friends since even though they travelled in different circles. It couldn't be helped though. Like the movies, the cheerleaders had their own little group of friends who they spent time with at lunch time and sat beside in class, so Amber and Mariah sometimes could go days without seeing each other but that didn't take away from their friendship.

"What are you doing here?" The girl demanded, staring in surprise as her companion, Ming-Ming Love tipped her plastic cup of alcohol into her mouth and began to sway to the incomprehensible song.

"Should you be here?" Ming-Ming slurred staring down into her cup with a cute furrow between her brows. She had to be drunk, she hadn't realized her lipstick had faded and her mascara had smudged under her eyes making them look bruised.

"I have an invitation." Amber told her lightly. She had no problem with Ming-Ming and vice versa when Ming-Ming was sober.

"Oh, Kai invited you?!" Mariah squealed and bouncing on the balls of her feet to the music, she tugged Amber closer and began to grind against her. "Dance!"

"Dance, Dance!" Ming-Ming repeated throwing her hands into the air and beginning to wind her body to the music making Amber glad she'd finished her drink otherwise it would be sloshing everywhere.

"But Kai's invited you before and you haven't come." Mariah said in her ear, continuing to give her body to the music.

Amber moved with her, twirling to the music and raking a hand through her hair. "The auld fart's dead, figured this was the closest I'd get to dancing on his grave without being arrested."

Mariah threw her head back and laughed drawing a few glances as Mariah tended to do when she was in a room. "The night's not over yet!"

Amber reluctantly smirked. "True."

A hand slid around her stomach as she became aware of a body behind her. She spun and looked up into the intrigued expression of Brooklyn Kingston, a friend of Kai's but one who roamed the outer circle. "Amber Benson, at a dance. Shocking."

"Brooklyn!" Mariah shouted jubilantly. "Dance!"

"Yeah," Amber raised her voice over the music. "We're at a dance; you're supposed to be dancing."

"Does Kai know you're here?" Brooklyn shouted back, raising a hand in greeting to a few people in a conga line making their way past. She shrugged. She didn't think Kai knew she was here but then, maybe he did. Just because she hadn't seen him didn't mean he hadn't seen her or maybe he kept in contact with the door men in case someone he didn't want showed up. It had been so bizarre to approach the large, three storey, stone grey mansion to find two burly men in suits positioned on either side of the large mahogany front doors.

"Drink?" Amber blinked at Ming-Ming as the teal haired girl waved her empty cup in her face before nodding. "Non-alcoholic! Hear that Ming-Ming, no beer, just soda!"

Ming-Ming wrinkled her nose before glancing at Brooklyn as though expecting him to tell her different. "No booze, pop." He reiterated. "This girl's high on life!"

"Damn straight." Amber replied, bouncing along with the music letting it wipe away her initial nerves as Mariah spun beside her. She may have hated the music but there was just something about it that made her need to move. Besides, while she never went to Kai's parties, she'd spent plenty of time going to parties at her friends' homes or to the local underage club in the town as well as to a few in the city.

The music changed as she grabbed Brooklyn's hand, allowing him to twirl her in a circle amused by his lack of movement. Brooklyn may have frequented Kai's parties but he didn't seem to actually dance. Maybe he was simply too sober.

Another figure popped up and she grinned up into the charmingly boyish face of Enrique Giancarlo, the adorable blond playboy who had managed to worm his way into Kai's inner circle though no one was quite sure how. He, plus Tala Valkov -Kai's right hand man-; calm and level headed Rei Kon; the red headed Jonathan McGregor –a hot tempered Scot- made up the inner circle of Kai's closest friends. They were the ones who Kai trusted explicitly, friends he'd had since he'd pretty much left the cradle due to their lineage. Brooklyn and a few others made up the outer circle and Amber figured Kai trusted some of them just as much but they just didn't have the long history like the others.

"You came!" She smiled at how pleased Enrique seemed to be to see her but considering he'd probably helped himself to a healthy dose of alcohol, she figured he'd be pleased to see anyone of the female species.

"Where's Kai?" Brooklyn shouted over the music and the blond waved his hand to the right as if that was a good enough hint of Kai's location. Brooklyn obviously disagreed if his hiss of annoyance and the roll of his eyes were any indication.

"I'll see you girls later!" The ginger haired boy called to them as he slipped off into the dancing crowd and somehow Amber felt that the term 'girls' was referring more to the blond than to her or Mariah.

Enrique slipped his arms around her and she rolled her eyes good naturedly as he led her into a close contact dance. She didn't mind so much since she'd known Enrique all her life and while they weren't good friends, she couldn't find it in her to dislike him. He was just... harmless, cute, and an all round nice guy.

Mariah broke his grip just as quickly as it fixed around her and Enrique didn't seem to mind backing off so he could dance with both of them. He twirled them and bounced with them when the beat allowed for nothing more before slinking away after a leggy brunette. Shaking her head in amusement, Amber turned back to Mariah and allowed her to lead them towards the other side of the room. The furniture had been pushed back against the walls making great spots for those who wanted to indulge in lip action or more she acknowledged with a raise of a brow as she noticed some girl –Queen?- in a state of disarray being lowered onto a couch with a guy from her math class looming over her. She looked away quickly refusing to see anything more.

A figure soon caught her attention and she pulled away from Mariah, motioning that she'd be back, to investigate the surly figure in the corner. "You did hear that this is a party and you're expected to dance... hence the music?"

"Oh, so you _are_ here then!" He bit out, folding his arms over his chest petulantly, earning a raised brow.

"...no I'm a figment-"

"Ah shut up. I figured since I was invited and all, but then I couldn't see you."

"Why are you here? I thought you hated parties."

"Same to you."

She rolled her eyes. Getting a straight answer from Ian Paplov was a little like getting blood from a stone. She adored the boy dearly, he was one of her closest friends when they weren't at each other's throats but seriously he did have a rather prickly attitude.

"Was Mattie invited too?"

"Yeah but she wouldn't come. It's not really her and Claude's '_thing_'." She laughed at Ian's finger quoting and grabbed his hand.

"Come on, we might never get to one of these ever again, so let's enjoy it!"

"I'm happy being a wall flower."

She looked him over, in combats and a denim jacket over a brown t-shirt, Ian could never really be called a flower. "Yeah, whatever. Is Mysty here?" If Kai had invited Ian, which was weird because there was no love lost between those two; Ian having been bullied by Kai when they had been younger –which was part of the reason her bickering with Ian stopped when they found themselves a mutual enemy.

"You know Blondie is invited by default."

She silently agreed with Ian. While Mystel Dakari was technically a member of her clique, he skirted Kai's outer circle due to his friendship with Brooklyn Kingston. Because of that friendship, Mystel often went to Kai's parties.

"So have you seen the host?" Ian wondered, warily studying the crowds of dancing people.

She shook her head. "I actually haven't seen hide-nor-hair of him. Strange since it's his party."

"Maybe he's going to do a grand entrance, like Michael Parker."

She shuddered. Having not gone to the star Varsity baseball players' birthday, everything she'd heard had been second hand but from what she'd gleaned, the idiot plum haired boy –now blond- had decided it would be a great idea to sky dive into the middle of his outdoor pool party. Of course his parents had been against the idea so in lieu of the original idea, Michael came upon the brilliant idea to jump off the roof of his parents' stately home.

With his mock parachute, he had planned to jump and sail down into the pool, however he'd misjudged the entire idea and instead of falling into the pool, he'd managed to entangle his woeful excuse for a parachute in the nearest tree. Unable to get down, he unbuckled the chute and hit the ground hard enough to snap his calf bone clean in half. So he spent his birthday in casualty and missed out on the rest of the season.

She hoped Kai had enough sense not to try anything so foolhardy.

"Still, I'm surprised he hasn't showed his face to you yet."

"Why should he? Hey, wanna go investigate the rest of the house? I heard there's a games room and everything."

Ian wrinkled his nose. "That's where the pot heads will be."

She mimicked his unsavory expression. She supposed they had to be somewhere. "Well, if they are there, we'll know them by the cloud of smoke above their heads." She stated, as she slid her way through the crowds, idly looking for Mariah again and sighing when she spotted her.

"Hey, there you are! I lost Ming-Ming."

Ian snickered but Amber shot him a warning look knowing how much Ian hated the petite teal haired girl. Something about Ming-Ming just got under Ian's skin and she was having a good time. She didn't want it to be ruined by Mariah and Ian bickering over her choice in friends. The problems with growing up in a small town, sigh.

"She's probably met some guy and gone-" Ian broke off raising a brow in absolute sheer horror. "What the flying fuck is that?!"

Amber pressed a hand to her lips to prevent herself from bursting out in horrified giggles while Mariah just gave in to the laughter. Something from the Eighties was flooding out of the speakers all around the house and Amber found herself thinking that if something could force Kai from his little nook or cranny, then this was it! She faintly recognized the song from the golden hour that her mother listened to on a Sunday afternoon but to hear it in the middle of a party hosted in the Hiwatari mansion... well it was just wrong!

"Oh god," Mariah moaned and the other two followed her gaze to the staircase where Ming-Ming was doing what looked to be the dance from _Dirty Dancing..._ maybe it was _Grease_. Oh, it was from one of them; having never really been enthralled with the films the way other girls were, she couldn't really identify the dance but it looked very... choreographed. Yes, that was the nice way of putting it. The majority of people on the dance floor had paused to watch the strange fiasco while those who were otherwise engaged or too drunk to notice the difference just continued what they were doing.

"Ming-Ming!"

"What the hell is that crap?!"

"And the host emerges." Ian intoned under his breath.

"That's crap sure, but what about what he's been making us listen to?"

She glanced across at Johnny McGregor with a grin. "Modern crap."

He looked at her in surprise before smirking. "Touché Benson, so you finally showed up."

Strange, everyone kept saying something like that to her. She supposed they hadn't been expecting her to show up, like Mattie and Claude, it wasn't really her thing. Still, she hated to be thought of as predictable. Maybe Kai simply invited her because he didn't think she'd show up.

"No, no. Don't turn it off!" Ming-Ming ordered, wobbling precariously on the staircase, holding the banister tightly as a few boys moved to keep her steady.

A commotion in front of her told her that Kai was moving towards the stereo system. She couldn't see him through the hoards of people, which was probably a good thing.

The music went off with an audible click and once again a dance song came on and Johnny and Ian groaned loudly.

"Oi! Kai! Show a little fucking diversity! Ya fuckin-"

"That you McGregor?" She could hear Tala's voice coming from where she suspected Kai was messing with the stereo. The music had suddenly gone off, so maybe Kai was thinking of putting on something decent. Maybe.

"You know anyone else who curses a blue streak?" Kai could be heard muttering.

A few people began muttering and complaining. "Just hold on!" Tala snapped.

"They fucking turn up, drink you dry and have the nerve to complain." Johnny muttered, pushing his way through the crowd towards his friends pulling a silver haired girl behind him. Amber didn't recognize her so she figured the girl went to a different school.

"Where'd Mariah go?" Amber suddenly asked, realizing the pink haired girl had suddenly disappeared from her side.

"To fetch the Dirty Dancer."

She shot Ian a dark look while her lips trembled. She could guess what Ming-Ming's nickname would be for the coming future. Nice.

Music came blasting out of the stereo and it took her a minute to recognize that it was _Timbaland's: _'One and Only' and as soon as Ian recognized it, the boy groaned.

"What is with the crap music?"

"Hey it's better than what was on before."

"Now it's emo rap." Ian growled. "I didn't even think that was possible."

"I think emo is possible in every genre of music. Come on, let's go find Mariah! You can mock Ming-Ming's dancing... she's drunk so she won't remember it."

"Hmm... not as fun but sure." She swayed to the music, unable to not let it influence her as she led Ian through the crowd.

Following the directions of a few others, she gleaned that Mariah had taken Ming-Ming to the kitchen to get her a little sobered up, so she and Ian made their way there.

"How is that better?!"

She pulled up straight as Johnny's outraged cry pierced the dulled music as they entered the hall to the kitchen.

"Give it a fucking rest you retard." Tala growled.

"Johnny, rock music isn't exactly easy to dance to." A black haired boy soothed, one she recognized as Rei Kon. "Hey, I'm going to find Mariah, I think I saw her go in to the kitchen. I might finally get a chance to talk to her without Lee coming to scare me off." He added, shooting an anxious glance to the kitchen.

Tala snickered. "Good luck man, even if you get near her Lee will try to gut you."

"Rei can kick Wong's ass." Amber's stomach dropped at that familiar voice. Kai. "If not, he's got us at his back."

"You better make sure the girl's worth it," Tala muttered.

"Ha, you're quick to back Kai on his que-" Amber quirked a brow as Rei shut up quick as he caught sight of them. He swallowed, eyes flicking to the left before returning to her. Damn straight he should be worried that they over heard him. If he hadn't noticed them, what else would he have said about Mariah?

"Rei? Cat got your tongue?" Kai wondered and the others chuckled at the inside joke.

"Uh, hey, Amber, Ian. You guys, um, enjoying the party?"

"Busted." Ian cheerfully sang. "Can't imagine Mariah would be too chuffed with your talk about her and her brother."

Amber watched as Johnny quickly put out his cigarette and stood up quickly, rubbing his hands on the back of his jeans as he looked uneasily at them, quickly looking at Kai for some kind of sign while Tala raised a brow curiously.

"You looking for someone Benz?"

"Mariah."

"She-" But before Rei could say anything else, the kitchen door opened and Mariah came out first, leading out a disheveled Ming-Ming who looked a little worse for wear. "Hey, do you need some help Mariah?"

Mariah's face lit up as she recognized Rei. "Thanks, I'd appreciate that."

"Uh, hey, I'll um, help too. Yeah, that sounds good." Johnny quickly added; hurrying to Ming-Ming's other side.

"What about your girlfriend?" Rei asked and Amber felt a little amused to hear a slight edge to the usually mild tempered boy's voice.

"Bathroom, she could be there for a while since there's usually a queue. Don't worry; I'll be gone in a while." She watched the two boys amble off with Mariah on the other side of Rei keeping a close eye on her friend.

"I guess that's my cue to leave." Tala stated, straightening slowly. He put out his cigarette; ground it under his foot before looking at Kai. "Good luck." He murmured, giving Kai one of those intricate male handshakes she never quite understood. Was bumping knuckles redundant these days? His long gait carried him towards her and instead of walking past them, he paused. "Be nice Benz. Come on Ian."

"What? Where am I going?" Ian demanded but it wasn't as if he could really refuse since Tala had a sturdy grip on his shoulder and was telling him about his new shooting game. Quickest way to Ian's heart, she mused.

Slowly she turned back to the remaining person in the hallway, aware of how her cheeks were suddenly hot and how her pulse was beating a frantic staccato against the skin of her throat. She wet her lips nervously. O-k, this was awkward. "Um, why did they leave so quickly?"

Kai raised a brow then elegantly shrugged, taking a sip from his glass as he gave her a slow appraising look. She flicked a quick glance down at her outfit as she fought the urge to shift uncomfortably. She knew she wasn't exactly dressed the same as the other girls there, who were kitted out in their short skirts, halter neck tops and heels. She, on the other hand, had gone for a pair of dark jeans and a black scoop-necked vest with black suede shoes with a small stub for a heel. It was casual but still dressed up enough for a party, or at least she thought it looked ok.

"You look good." He finally stated and she wrinkled her nose. Who did he think he was? King of the damn world? So now that the old man had kicked the bucket, Kai was going to begin acting superior to everyone? She frowned. She was an idiot. What made her think that Kai might really want to be her friend again?

"Yeah, well you at least look better than the last time I saw you." She sniped, folding her arms and leaning back against the wall behind her. It was true though. He did look better, a lot better. She had to admit, the guy knew how to dress. Faded grey jeans added to his height and a plain black shirt, opened at the neck outlined the leanness of his figure and emphasized the smooth pale skin. His two toned hair was in that hapless disarray that seemed to be its usual style that seemed to suit him so perfectly. It added to his image of the reluctant heir.

A tarnished silver hoop graced each ear and a silver chain hung around his neck, which she doubted the Old Man would have ever seen on him. It made her wonder when he'd gotten the ears done; after all he had made fun of her getting her own ears pierced. Not that it had been her decision because as far back as she could remember –she had only been 8 when it happened- her mother had spurred her into the parlor when they'd been out shopping for her uncle Seth's wedding.

His lips curved in a rueful smirk. "Hmm. I'm surprised you came, to be honest."

"Well you invited me." She muttered defensively, rubbing her shoulder.

"I've invited you before; you never came then."

She looked at him surprised. Well that was true but when he had invited her, it had usually been during one of those rare moments when he'd noticed her long enough to make a mockery of her. Part of his joke was to ask her out just so she'd get flustered and his fan club would get a good laugh, though she had to admit, he hadn't done that this year at all. In fact this year he barely acknowledged her existence unless, due to unseen circumstances, he would have to sit beside her in class and then he might bother her for a pen.

"You didn't mean it then."

He studied her for a long moment and, as if coming to a decision, he set his drink aside and got to his feet. "Come on."

She looked dubiously at the hand he offered her. "Where?"

"I want to talk to you, to explain a few things and I don't want an audience or any interruptions."

"What's wrong with right here?" She asked, but only sighed when he gave her a flat look as another partygoer stumbled down the corridor towards them. Amber could only watch as the drunk female flung herself at Kai and wrapped her arms around him, almost spilling her drink over him.

"Hey party boy! Why aren't chu..." For a moment she paused to think of what she wanted to say; then she pointed back the way she came. "there?"

Kai easily extricated himself and gave her a razor sharp smile. Amber shuddered at the look. It was so chilled and disturbing, and she realized that for all his hateful actions during their earlier years, he'd never once looked at her like that. "Clover, go home."

"What?! No! No! I want to stay here... wid chu! We're... we're good together, chu know."

"We're not together. We haven't been in a long time." Kai muttered fending off her hands. "I don't like you."

Amber looked around nervously but when Clover lurched forward and yanked Kai's head towards hers, she quickly spun on her heels and headed towards the dance room again. Maybe she could find Mariah or even... her eyes went wide as she caught sight of a familiar couple kissing passionately on the dance floor. She quickly looked away wanting to give them some semblance of privacy though they clearly didn't deserve it for making out in the middle of the dance floor.

"That is gross!" Ming-Ming shouted loudly in her ear, making her poor eardrum sting from the force of the girls vocal capacity.

She struggled to withhold a wince as she turned to the teal haired girl. "I think it's nice, they're a cute couple."

"An old married one!" Was Ming-Ming's sharp reply.

"True but still a cute couple."

"Ugh, I'll never know what Tyson sees in her."

Now that was a surprise, if she had been expecting that comment from Ming-Ming she would have expected the names to be switched. Usually people would wonder what Hilary, a member of the student council who always liked to get things done her way, would want with Tyson, the schools resident loudmouth and bottomless pit.

"Granger and Tachibana? What the hell's in that punch?" Tala wondered, tipping his cup up to look at the bottom of it before doing a double take at Amber. "What the hell are you doing here? Where's Kai?"

"With Clover out in the hall."

"That retard." The red head cursed. "Go out there and talk to him."

"He's with Clover." Amber repeated through gritted teeth.

"I don't care! Go and talk to him; tell Clover to take a hike and talk to Kai! I'm not dealing with this any fucking more!"

And he said Johnny cursed a blue streak, Amber thought dryly. Obviously, the punch loosened his tongue. "Jeez, what's your problem?"

Tala huffed out a breath and muttered something about getting a drink as he stormed off. Amber made a face at him back before turning to find Ming-Ming gaping at her. "Oh my god! How dense are you?!" The girl exclaimed. "Kai likes you!"

"WHAT?!"

Before she could get the girl to repeat her ludicrous statement, Amber was suddenly seized by the shoulders and whirled round. Kai glared down at her, eyes blazing furiously while his lips curled in a sneer. "Let's go!"

"Go where?! What is going on?" She looked frantically for some kind of aid but the music was too loud, the lights were out and only the strobe lights erected on the wall illuminated faces for a fraction of time. She couldn't see anyone she recognized as Kai began to lead her out of the room and towards the stairs where earlier a much drunker Ming-Ming had tried to do her little routine. "Kai?"

"I told you, we need to talk."

"About what?"

He didn't reply, just began to root through his pocket for something with his free hand. The other one was clasped firmly around hers, large, firm and very warm.

"Are you drunk?"

"No!" He bit out curtly. He spun and backed her up against the wall, his body leaning over hers so his lips could hover at her ear. His warm, sweet scented breath wafted over her neck, she shivered and forced her gaze to meet his. His eyes were blistering and hot as he watched her intently. "Is that what you think of me? That I do nothing but get drunk?"

"No, but I don't know what to think of you, how can I?"

"We need to talk, that's why I'm taking you to my room. Ok?"

"Uh, no. Not ok. Do you realize what people will think?! I'm not going to be thought of as another notch on your bed post Hiwatari!"

"Kai!" He snarled. "You call me Kai, Ember!"

Her breath was coming in fast bursts and her pulse was beating rapidly against her skin. "Fine, Kai, I'm not one of your floozies-"

"No, you're not. But since when did you care what others think?"

"I've always cared!" She snapped; he was leaning so close to her now that their lips almost touched. One hand was braced over her head and the other was holding onto her waist, burning a hole through her top. Oh god, she almost moaned at just how hot it had become in the house. She wished she hadn't worn her jeans, her legs burned and itched under the coarse material and there was a tight band constricting around her chest.

Liquid mahogany eyes slid a scorching path to her lips which tingled in reaction. He quickly wrenched his gaze away and fixed it on a point over her head as he just as quickly stepped back allowing her to breathe. Her eyes suddenly widened in realization and she gasped. Did Kai...had he...it looked as if he... wanted to kiss her? No. No, it was Kai and Kai...

"Kai?" She asked quietly, questions whirling in her head.

He pushed away from her sharply and began to take her down the corridor. "We have to talk."

"Um, ok then." She acquiesced, her fingers lifting to touch her lips. Strange, they already felt swollen, stung. What was going on? Why was Kai acting so different and why were things changing so much? Was it all to do with the old man's death?

"Hey Kai, great party, man!"

Kai grunted but didn't reply to the boy who held up his bottle in salute of the 'great party'. His girlfriend giggled and leaned into him but her eyes followed Kai with dark hunger.

Kai turned down a corridor and approached a door in the midst of the calico wall. The door was closed but as he pulled out his key, she realized it was closed –not because there was a couple inside, like the others- but because it was locked. Quickly unlocking it, he stepped inside and flicked on the light before ushering her inside. For the first time, she gained an insight into what it must be like to be Kai Hiwatari, heir to the Hiwatari fortune.

His room was massive, twice the size of his old room. The walls were a pale blue and the light came from four spot lights directed to every corner of the square room that was quite a bit larger than hers. Black metal shelves were lined against the walls, filled with DVD's, CD's, _Playstation3_ game cases and books. A black couch had been carefully placed against the wall just opposite the bottom of the large king sized bed that was definitely a waste of money. Who needed a bed of that size? _Someone who's going to be doing a lot of entertaining_ was the quick reply that echoed in her head.

She huffed out a sigh and quickly averted her attention to take in the rest of the room, the large closet that took up one wall from floor to ceiling, also in black veneer. There was a door by the head of the bed which she assumed led to an ensuite, she doubted Kai would be the type to wander around his grandfathers home in a towel as he traipsed from the bathroom to his bedroom. There was a study table with a printer and a laptop vying for space with a few other gadgets and model cars. On another wall, there was a large notice board with photos and passports. Other than that, the room was suspiciously clean and barely looked lived in.

A shift of the air behind her had her turning back to her host. "Not much like your old room," she commented idly, a photographic picture of his room was embedded firmly in her mind.

He had been given a bunk-bed in his room for whenever friends wanted to stay over but the bottom bunk could easily be turned into a couch, which was where she and Kai would sit when they were watching TV or playing on his Playstation, -she hadn't had one at the time, so playing on his became a new pastime. Sometimes, when her mother worked nights –which had been rare when she'd been younger since her mother had been loathed to leave her on her own- she would stay over and sleep on the bottom bunk where they would end up talking late into the night about utter crap until his mum came in to tell them to be quiet or Amber would be made to sleep in the guest room. It was an empty threat but they'd never tested Jean on that after their warning.

There had also been tons of toy cars scattered over the floor and a mat of a city at one stage too. Her eyes fell on the model cars and a smile flitted over her lips. Well at least that hadn't changed.

Silence fell over the room and she shifted awkwardly, feeling the utter strangeness of the situation acutely. Especially since he hadn't looked away from her and she could feel his gaze like a laser, burning hotly into her.

"What's happened Kai?"

He ducked his head, fixing his gaze on the floor then slowly met her gaze again. "He's dead Ember and I own everything now."

She swallowed and backed up against the bed, allowing herself to collapse down upon it. "That's great, really it is, but what's that got to do with me? I mean, everyone's been acting strange, as if they know something I don't and they've said a few things and..." She trailed off with a gesture of her hands.

"It means I'm in control of my life for the first time since I was ten."

"And that affects me, how?"

"How do you think?" The question wasn't delivered with any scorn or derisive tone, merely a genuine query; as if it was a question she should be able to figure out the answer to. The thing was; she didn't think she wanted to know or hazard a guess. Kai had been cruel to her before, she didn't want to allow him the opportunity to be so again.

"I don't know Kai. You mentioned wanting to be friends again and part of me is willing to give that a go but... you hurt me."

"I know. I didn't want to, but I did." He acknowledged, moving to take a seat on the couch opposite her. He leaned forward, clasping his fingers under his chin and propping his elbows on his knees.

"Why? Mum told me that you would want to be alone for a while, after... well after, you know. But I didn't think that would mean you would blank me completely. You just... you never talked to me and you never told me why."

"Because he told me to."

Her inner ten year old self wanted to know why he listened, he had never listened to anyone unless he wanted to but her older self was a little wiser. "I wasn't the type of person someone of your position should interact with, huh?"

"Something like that." Revulsion colored his tone and she sensed it was directed at his dead grandfather.

"Why didn't he send you to boarding school?"

"Because I toed the line, Ember. If he sent me away, I would have lashed out. He wouldn't risk the kind of problems I would have caused. He already fucked up my life more than enough; I wasn't going to let him have full control, so I toed the line when it mattered. I went to school, I did well; I went to his benefits and high society dinners and played the polished, aristocratic grandson and I befriended the rich sons of other wealthy families and when he was out of town, I did what I wanted... within reason."

"But then why... why were you so cruel to me?"

"Would you have left me alone if I wasn't? I couldn't be seen with you so I did the only thing I could think of to drive you away."

"Publicly humiliating me, treating me like I was worthless and making me feel less than I was?"

"I made you hate me!" He snapped, rising to his feet and running his hands through his hair.

"So you could keep your precious inheritance!" Hot tears pricked her eyes and she was appalled to find a hard lump filling her throat.

"No!" He shouted, grabbing her shoulders and hauling her to her feet, his furious expression twisting his face. "So I could keep you!"

She stared dumbly at him. "What?"

Kai sighed and the anger seemed to drain out of her as he gathered her unresisting form into his arms. His cool forehead pressed against hers as he carefully watched her. "While he couldn't send me away, Voltard soon learnt that he could use you to keep me in line. If I did something he didn't like, you would be sent away. I thought if I stayed away from you, he would forget about you. I thought if I didn't talk to you, I wouldn't care as much if you were sent away but... we're family."

Some family, she mused quietly. "But, how could he send me away. He has no say in my life, unless he did something to Dad-"

"Not your dad, your Mom."

"Mom?!"

"Voltard was very influential, he made great contributions to the hospital and to the school. He could have had you expelled but you weren't that kind of girl," He smiled softly but it faded as he thought about what he was going to say. "But your mother was a different matter, if I did something he didn't like, he threatened to get her fired from the hospital and you'd be forced to move away so your mother could get a new job. I've seen it happen before, heck he even used your dad."

"How?"

"Your dad didn't want the job with Hiwatari Corp, he despised everything Voltard stood for but... by staying with Hiwatari Corp he was able to keep an eye on me."

Amber's stomach churned in disgust. That sounded true enough. Her dad had been Nicolai Hiwatari's best friend; he would have done anything to stay close to Kai, a final favor for his old friend. "Your asshole of a grandfather was quite the manipulator."

"It's what he thrived on, yes."

"Then what was Tala talking about, the will?"

"Tala wanted me to make certain that Voltard, being the manipulator he was, hadn't woven in some clause to the will that would further control my life. Such as linking my fortune to an arranged marriage, the way he was always threatening to do. He didn't want me to get my hopes up before I was certain about my future. He probably didn't want you to get hurt any more than you had either."

"Again, what's it got to do with me?"

He chuckled and tapped her nose. "We'll discuss that some other time, ok?"

"Um, yeah sure. I guess we're friends now, then? I mean, we can be friends, right?"

"If you want."

She froze, watching him. Wasn't that what he wanted? Kai sighed heavily and pulled her closer to him, leaning over her to speak against her ear. "I want to be your friend... actually I don't just want to be your friend but I'll settle for that for the moment. It's up to you if we can be friends; I'm leaving that decision to you."

His words jumbled in her head, the mixed messages and signals and... She pulled away with a shake of her head. "I can't think with you wrapped around me." She grumbled, only for Kai to laugh. "It's not funny. Now, I take it that the will's ok? You're not honor bound to marry someone or to do anything else before you gain control of Hiwatari Corp?"

"No, either the bastard didn't want any chance of the money going to anyone else but a Hiwatari or your Dad simply took revenge by emitting that clause, but I'm free. Everything belongs to me now and the bastard's dead. So I can do as I damn please."

"So what will you do then?"

"Well first of all, I'm going to go downstairs and order the caterers to offer everyone a glass of his finest wine to make a toast to the dearly departed bastard. And then after the party, I'm probably going to stay up all night playing video games with the boys. We may even run around the house in our underwear. I'm going to donate his belongings to a charity shop and remodel his room in some terribly desecrated way. And then I'm going to drive you to school on Monday and then you can sit with me in class and lunch and any other time, I really don't mind. I'll have to talk to the trustees at some stage but James will take care of that. Then I'll invite your mother and you around for dinner and let Treasa meet the guys because she should see who I'm friends with and decide if they're worthy of being my friends, but they'll charm her and I'll get a dog. I always wanted a dog."

Amber blinked up at him as he carried on with his plans. A water slide in the pool and selling the man's Cuban cigars –his pride and joy; donating his prized original artworks to museums etc. She wondered if he realized he was stroking his fingers lightly up and down her arm in a feathery caress. She could barely feel the touch but strangely she was hyperaware of it, her hairs standing on end as an electric shiver coursed down her spine, shocking her nerves. His eyes were strangely dreamy and it occurred to her that it was quite possibly the first time she'd ever heard Kai speak so much in one sitting and amusement bubbled within her. Her hand lifted to cover her smile.

Kai paused in his musings and blinked as if waking up from a blissful dream to realize he wasn't alone. He frowned. "What?"

"Nothing, you just... were babbling. It's kind of funny."

He firm lips smiled faintly and she felt a low jolt deep inside. As if by smiling, he had to ability to tug things low down inside her, visceral things that he couldn't possible touch. She felt an abrupt desire for a cool glass of water to relieve the sudden dryness of her mouth but had to settle for a quick touch of her tongue to her lips. His eyes locked onto the movement immediately and she froze, startled by the sheer hunger in his gaze. Oh, if she had any doubts about his intentions on the landing earlier, they were abolished now. Her skin prickled with awareness and the nerves along her spine flared to life, causing her to body to go ramrod straight in his grasp.

"Ember," his voice was hoarse as he breathed her nickname, his warm breath ghosting over her face as he leaned towards her. His hand trailed down to hers and his fingers, long and tapered, interlinked with hers as he drew closer. A sharp pang of desperate longing swept through her. Kai Hiwatari, the boy she had adored as a girl, the young man she admired as a young woman, was going to kiss her and she didn't know if she wanted him to or not.

"Kai...I..." her eyes rolled back in her head as his thumb, hot and calloused smoothed over her lower lip and she shocked herself by emitting a short breathless moan.

Suddenly Kai's head whipped up and he muttered a curse. "We'll finish this later." He murmured, with a soft smile. "We're about to have company."

For a moment she frowned at him, stunned by what had just happened and for some reason, utterly confused by his actions. However before she could even dwell on what he'd just done, the door burst open and Enrique and Johnny marched in.

"Sorry we interrupted but the parties over, Tala sent everyone home." Enrique grumbled as he swept between them and crouched in front of the TV.

Johnny followed before turning to them. "Are you two fighting?" When neither of them answered, he rolled his eyes. "Look, Kai wants to be friends with you, you want to be friends with Kai. The old man is dead, so let bygones be bygones and be happy! Ding-dong, the bastards dead, and all that jazz."

Kai rolled his eyes but his lips tilted up with a faint trace of amusement, the glimmer of laughter deepening when his eyes met hers as if he was sharing a joke with her. Despite her utter confusion and the sudden chill that had settled in her bones, she couldn't help but muster up a small smile in response. This, she imagined, was what being friends with Kai again would be like. They'd keep their old friends, of course they would because she couldn't imagine not having lunch with Ian or listening to Mattie have her minor panic attacks on the phone, but in between they'd have their own time together where they could chat and share their experiences.

She watched Johnny and Enrique settle in front of the Playstation while Kai questioned them about the end of the party –the party she'd forgotten all about while she had been up in Kai's room. Was Ian still hanging around waiting for her or was Mariah looking after Ming-Ming? And was there any truth to what Ming-Ming had said to her? There seemed to be something, why else would he have almost kissed her twice, if that had been his attention?

"Tala cancelled the party, told everyone and I quote 'to fuck off and go home', end quote." Enrique groused with a cute pout, as he grabbed a controller only for Johnny to yank it off him.

"I was bored." Her head jerked to the door as Tala strode in, hands stuffed casually in his pocket and a dull glaze to his vividly blue eyes.

"You were bored? So sorry my parties don't interest you." Kai drawled.

"Tala just doesn't know how to make fun for himself." Rei chuckled, as he entered the room and Amber's stomach leapt in relief when she caught of the figure clutched tightly against the Chinese boy's body.

"Amber!" The pink haired girl sprang forward to pull her to her feet. "Are you staying?"

"Staying? I thought the party was over." She asked, looking around. "So what's happening now?"

"I'm going to kick Enrique's scrawny ass on Tekken and then I'll take on the rest of you, kick all your asses and you'll bow down and worship me, lowly mortals."

"We're just going to hang out for a while." Rei explained, with that warm, reassuring smile that was hard to resist. "Kai's got plenty of rooms here and loads of servants so you can crash here if you want."

Mariah laughed softly but her golden eyes locked on Amber's imploringly. "You'll stay right?"

Amber sought out Kai and when he seemed to be waiting for her answer but giving no signal himself, she sighed. Well she could phone her mother, what would the harm be? It wasn't as if the boys were strangers to her, she had grown up with them all her life in their small educational system and if Mariah was here, she was certain nothing untoward would happen to her. Still, she'd text her mother first.

"Sure, I'll stay for a while, if mum agrees." She waited for the usual jeers about asking her parent for permission but none came, in fact Rei seemed strangely impressed.

"If you want to go home, I'll drive you." Rei told her. "I haven't been drinking tonight."

"So Tekken people, do you girls play?"

"I'm Hwoarang!"

"The fuck you are Enrique, if anyone's Hwoarang it's me. I'm a red head, you can be that purple shirted pansy, Lee."

Amber ducked her head as she caught sight of the way Mariah glowered at the Scot as if expecting some kind of insult towards her brother. Lee Wong might have been an overbearing, overprotective brother but he was still family and blood was usually thicker than water... though not always, she mused soberly as she looked at Kai who was watching her in that disconcerting manner he seemed to have picked up.

"I'm Hwoarang," Tala growled as if that settled matters, "Kai's Jin, Rei's Law and you're Phoenix, McGregor; shit you'd think you'd remember this."

"I'm Yoshimitsu!" Mariah blurted out, shifting uncomfortably under the intense stares the boys gave her. "What? I've played Tekken."

"No offense Mariah, but I would have thought you'd be a Ling character. You know, weak and girly."

Amber glared at the stupid blond but Kai spoke before she could defend her favorite character. "Actually, Ling's Ember's character. And as far as I remember, you owe me a rematch."

She met his challenging look with a smile of her own. "Sure, I'll show you guys how weak and girly Ling is, you know, after I've taken you all out."

"Ha, you couldn't take me out if you bought me flower-"

"_Shut up_ Enrique!"

* * *

Four weeks later, she sat in her room listening to _Lacuna Coil_ blaring full blast through her earphones. She'd had a tough week dealing with studying for exams and since they were finally over, she had taken a moment to just indulge by listening to music. God, she missed it so much at times, especially when she'd been forced to forego it for two weeks in order to actually absorb some educational material.

Her head rolled back against the edge of her bed as she tugged at the small threads in her mat, the one that saved her feet from freezing when she got out of bed in the morning. She'd had a mat by her bed ever since her mother had discovered her reason for remaining in bed was because she disliked the cold. Since she had a mat, she could never give her mother a good reason for lying longer in her bed than necessary.

A shadow fell over her and she yelped, scrambling to her knees as she yanked out her earbuds. She gaped up at her intruder and scowled. "God Kai, scare the crap out me, why don't you?!"

He smirked superiorly and poked her with his toe. "I wouldn't have if you hadn't been destroying your eardrums."

"I'm absorbing the music in its purest form." She retorted cheekily as she held out a hand. He took it firmly in his, encasing it in the warmth and strength of his larger hand, and pulled her to her feet with an ease she envied. "So why are you here?"

"I tried calling but you never answered."

She frowned; then comprehension dawned as she shimmied over to her vanity table, plucking her phone from her underwear drawer where she'd deposited it earlier while putting away her washing. Her head bobbed and her foot tapped to the music now flooding out of the speakers of her laptop. A quick glance at the screen of her cell confirmed his comment. He had called. She hadn't heard.

"Oops, sorry. So what were you calling about?"

"Party on the beach."

"Ha, no."

"Oh?"

"I'm not going to another party. The last one... well I went to make sure the old man was dead and wasn't going to come popping up out of nowhere. You know the old man, he's not likely to take death lying down."

"Well he did, remember? I found him lying in his bed and we buried him eight feet under."

"Six feet." She corrected automatically, wishing she hadn't brought up the topic of the old man. The truth was; she wasn't necessarily comfortable with the idea of going to another party where Kai could get drunk and give her mixed messages again. It didn't do her heart any good, and seeing Mariah and Rei giving each other gooey eyes would only annoy her further. She couldn't really blame Kai though since he probably didn't even realize he was giving her mixed signals.

How was he supposed to know that she was such a virgin that she couldn't tell a little harmless flirting from the real thing? Ever since the party, he'd been nothing but friendly, nodding to her in the corridors –giving half the female population a heart attack in the process- and collecting her from her home in the morning –only because he wanted to get some of her mother's home cooked breakfast- sometimes eating lunch with her and her friends etc. All very friendly, all very platonic. Even his hugs which he bestowed on her whenever the mood came upon him were nothing but nice, comforting hugs; no groping or sneaky petting. It was so frustrating because she kind of wanted him to do something just so she didn't feel as though she was hanging in limbo.

"Eight feet," He repeated, "I made them dig an extra two feet just to be certain he wasn't coming back out."

She grimaced. "So when Prissy jumped in after him-" She asked tentatively, referring to Kai's single aunt who was notoriously a daddy's girl as well as a self-centered, money grabbing whore. She hadn't been too happy with the old man leaving the mansion and most of the money to Kai. Of course, during the funeral she hadn't known that; no, the reason for her throwing herself onto her fathers' coffin had been to play up for the media.

"Luckily the coffin had only been lowered a little when she made her dive. Pricilla wouldn't be foolish enough to do herself any real harm. That would give the papers a real field day."

Amber flinched. Poor Kai, he really was saddled with the worst people in his life. "Is she still trying to wangle her way into the house?"

"Of course she is. She has a sizeable nest egg but say what you like about the Voltard –I do- he was a stingy bastard, so he knew what she would do with any of the money he gave her. He wasn't planning to let his empire be flushed down the pan due to her foolish spending."

She leaned back against her vanity table, studying him as he lay back on her crisp white quilt, idly toying with the ears of her favorite teddy. "Wouldn't he have been scared that you'd sell it? You know, out of pettiness?"

"And risk people losing their jobs? No, why should I cut off my nose to spite my face. Hiwatari Corp is a lucrative money maker and I'd be an idiot to let it go but I can make it better and I will make it mine."

She nodded quietly absorbing his words. He had always been logical, seeing the bigger picture and emotions had rarely run his life. Though what he had said to her during the party had indicated otherwise. If it were her, she'd have sold it all and upped stakes away from every memory of such a conniving old man. "I probably should have gone to the funeral." She mused and she had thought about it. Her father had gone; it wasn't as if she wouldn't have been able to go, but she just couldn't force herself to be that hypocritical. While she would have been there for Kai, it felt wrong to go to someone's funeral and be glad they were dead.

Kai hadn't had a choice in the matter, the papers would have eaten up the idea that the Hiwatari heir hadn't appeared at his own grandfather's funeral. They'd already had their own assumptions as to why the prodigal grandchild Russia Kennedy –daughter of Catherine Kennedy née Hiwatari- hadn't showed up. More than likely Russia just hadn't wanted to spend four hours on a plane to go to a funeral of a man she didn't really know nor care to know. Hadn't the girl her own problems to deal with without worrying about how the press made her look.

"So party?" He asked, setting Joe aside and surging into a seated position, swinging his legs off the bed and setting his feet on the ground. He held his hand out to her and she reluctantly took it with a sigh.

"I'm not really in the mood for one of your parties. I'd rather stay home and watch a few DVD's."

"Fine, we can do that."

She gaped at him, not expecting that reply. Wasn't he expected at the party? Everyone at school always said that a party wasn't a real party unless the Four showed up. If Kai didn't go, it would be noticed. Then rumors would run rampant around the school and somehow, everyone would discover that it was her fault he hadn't gone and things would just get blown out of proportion. She'd only survived the past four weeks with the help of her friends, Mariah and Ming-Ming running damage control. After all, some people had noticed him leading her up the stairs towards his bedroom that was always off limits during parties. If Kai did pair up with a girl, he always took her to a spare room apparently.

"What about your party?"

"I can miss it. It's only a few people meeting down at the beach, hardly anything newsworthy."

Except it was and him missing it would be even more newsworthy. "They'll notice you're not there."

"Not if Tala doesn't go."

"Oh what are you going to do, Kai? Ring Tala and tell him not to go."

"Why not?"

"I think he might object." She pointed out needlessly, really Kai should have copped to that.

"He can do without a girl for one night."

She rolled her eyes at him, exasperation filling her expression. "How can you be so cruel?"

He opened his mouth, probably to shoot something glib back at her, only to close his mouth again. "Look, I wasn't being serious. I just want to hang out with you and you don't want to go to the beach so I'll stay here. It's not that big of a deal. We used to hang out all the time before."

"Yeah, when we were ten! Ten, Kai! No one reads anything into ten year olds hanging out. It's not the same when we're seventeen." She pushed her hands through her hair. He really didn't get it. Oh what was there to get? She was acting completely irrational and making no sense to herself, so how was he supposed to know? "Maybe we can hang out some other time." Yeah when it wasn't so late and her mother was at home and others were there.

He rose slowly to his face, his expression fathomless as he tilted his head to study her, eyes shrewd. "You sound as if you're scared to be alone with me Ember, is that it?"

She folded her arms tightly. "What?! No. Why would I be?"

"Exactly what I'm wondering."

"Besides, I don't want to go to the party and we wouldn't be alone there." She pointed out.

"No, but there would be a lot of people watching us, wouldn't there?"

"I don't know what you're getting at Kai. I'm not like all those girls you know. We're friends right? So why are we playing stupid word games?"

He frowned; then he cursed quietly. "We're not friends."

She slowly hunched her shoulders warily watching him as she rubbed her suddenly cold arms. So now they were really going to talk about it, were they? Oh crud. "Really?"

"Damn, I'm not saying this right. Look we are friends but... you know I want to be more." He looked directly at her and as their eyes locked, she dropped hers to the ground, suddenly finding the floor to be more interesting. Except it really wasn't but it was safer. Yes, that was the word. The floor was safer than what Kai wanted to talk about.

"Ember, look at me." He stepped closer but didn't invade her personal space, instead used his arm length to tilt her chin up gently so her eyes finally met his. She swallowed thickly to relieve the sudden dryness in her mouth. Her tongue felt as though it had glued itself to the roof of her mouth and there was a strange heat to her room that hadn't been there before. It was his eyes, she decided. The heat in them was enough to scorch any mote of moisture out of the air and to ignite a liquid fire inside her. It was bizarre, she'd never really felt anything so _physical_ around a boy before. Naturally it would be Kai that awoke the primitive part inside her.

His thumb brushed back and forth over the skin of her chin, so close to her mouth but he never touched it. Instead he settled for making her body burn and her skin tingle. She itched and burned and _desired_.

"Kai," The word left her mouth as a broken moan. She didn't know what he was doing to her but it made her ache so sweetly.

"Tell me you want more too." He whispered hoarsely.

A shiver raced down her spine as she slid her arms around his waist and rose up on her tiptoes to offer him the first kiss she'd ever offered a boy. A few had been stolen over the years and her first had been with Kai when they'd been nine, when they had wanted to know what all the fuss was about after seeing a romance movie. Needless to say that while it had been nice enough –compared to some of the others she'd received over the years, Kai was a veritable sex god at age nine-both had been left feeling mildly disappointed with their conclusions.

Either her body hadn't been ready for kissing at age nine or Kai had learnt a few incredible tricks over the years since almost immediately after his lips covered hers, a wave of hunger sweep through her. It was the only word to explain that feeling of keen yearning. She pressed closer as his tongue swept into her mouth and sent her stomach into a series of flips.

She wasn't sure how long they stood there, clinging together and kissing deeply before the need to breathe drew them apart. Startled she stared up at him when he threw back his head and laughed. Honestly, she didn't think she'd really get used to someone like Kai laughing. Especially when he seemed so damn happy with himself.

An icy coldness began to seep through her. He seemed almost smug, like the cat that got the cream and she knew that look was never good on a boy. She'd seen enough teen movies to know that teenage boys had nothing to be smug about unless it was at someone else's expense. She tried to pull away from him but his grip tightened as he gazed down at her, trouble beginning to cloud his eyes.

"What's wrong? I thought you wanted that-"

"I want to know what's going on."

His lips, still bruised from hers –did hers look like that?-, parted and he raised his eyes to the ceiling. "I thought it would be obvious Ember. I like you as more than a friend, much more and I want to take you out on a date. Is that simple enough for you?"

"But-"

"Yes or no answer, Ember. I'm rich, good looking, smart..."

"Egotistical."

"How about this, we go out on a date and then you can decide if you want this but if you don't... well, I don't know how good a friend I'll be if you start to see other boys. I'll give it a shot though."

"Can I think about it?"

He grimaced but gave a reluctant nod. "Sure, let's go watch a movie and you can think about it."

"Not a chick flick!"

He shot her a smirk that made lower things deep inside her tremble. "Then no girl power ones either."

"Che, fine." She grumbled as she traipsed after him, a soft smile curving her lips when his hand found hers.

* * *

It was no surprise to anyone when she and Kai started going out only a few weeks later. They had decided to take things slow, no point in ruining it before it really got started. And surprisingly, he made a good boyfriend. It wasn't really that much different to being friends with him, they still bickered a lot and joked _a lot_ but since they became a couple, he tended to buy her things –which she never really wanted but he insisted upon buying- and of course, there was the obligatory making out.

They were together through college since they both found courses to study in the same university. He had chosen business with a minor in legal studies –though with James to help him out, he was well able to run Hiwatari Corp his way-; while she studied Criminology and they had worked. They had their off days of course but they had grown use to their different moods and had learnt how to live with them.

Then she received her big chance to pursue her dream when she got accepted into the police force but it required her to move away to train and so they had parted amicably. Well amicably enough. He hadn't really understood why she wanted to move away when she could just stay with him and not have to work. That had been a fun argument. Not.

"Hey, you ready?"

She blinked out of her reverie and smiled up at the man standing before her, looking dashing and suave in his tux. Her heart kicked against her ribs and she pressed a hand to her chest. "Yeah, I am."

He leaned down and kissed her mouth softly, cool lips almost featherlike on hers. "You'll be fine."

"Sure." She swallowed thickly and the lump of ice in her stomach melted under his smile. She turned and hooked her arm through his. "Love you, Tala."

He laughed richly, walking her towards the entrance doors to the large banquet hall. Already the hubbub of conversation and clank of cutlery was making her heart thrum energetically. She took his hand and entwined it with hers, seeking the warmth of reassurance of his touch.

"Let's do this."

"You act like you're about to face a firing squad, love, it's just a dance."

She smiled up at him and allowed him to open the door for her.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bride and Groom."

She sucked in a breath and stepped out into the banquet hall, feeling all eyes on them as the spotlight trailed their approach to the centre of the dance floor. It was only the feel of Tala behind her that kept her from running. She really did hate all this focus on her. Then her eyes locked on him standing on the other side of the floor, dark eyes locked on hers. Kai.

She swallowed as she felt Tala veer off and Kai approached her. If Tala looked dashing and suave in his tux, Kai looked darkly handsome and sophisticated and turned her knees to jelly as her toes curled.

"You look like you're about to faint."

She laughed softly as his hands found their way to her waist, heavy and warm against the white satin of her bodice. All the effort that it had taken to get the stupid dress on that morning had been well worth it when she caught sight of his expression in the church earlier. It was funny how things turned out. After Kai and she had separated to go their own ways, her to the police and him to his company, they had never really expected to run into each other again.

However fate dealt its card by letting her take a post as a deputy in her home town. Honestly, she had never really believed that Kai would stay in their home town, some part of her always thought he'd get an apartment in the nearest city and work from there, after all he owned the company so turning up late for work wouldn't have caused much of a scene, if he even wanted to work in the company. But she had been wrong. Kai had taken over his grandfathers' mansion and made it his and they had encountered each other a few times while in town. It hadn't really mattered since Kai was engaged and she was seeing someone herself but eventually they had become friends again. True friends this time, neither of them having another agenda.

For two years they continued as they were but some people were never meant to be friends. On a night out, events conspired to leave them as the only two left in the bar while the others in their group found consensual partners and while it had never been a problem before, the fact that she had broken up with her boyfriend four days before made her want to get drunk.

So she got drunk and then not happy with simply embarrassing herself in front of her oldest friend, she then went further and told him she was still in love with him. It was true; of course, drink always had a way of weaselling out the truth. Unfortunately, for her, when she went to kiss him, he had pushed her gently away and took her home, tucking her safely in her bed.

The strange thing was that she didn't remember doing that for a long time after, so she had to wonder how strange Kai had found it when she exhibited complete ignorance of that night. Things continued along quite well for a few weeks until Kai found out that someone was blackmailing and despite several times trying to take matters into his own hands, she finally convinced him to let her do the investigating. She had the badge after all. He had been reluctant but eventually accepted it. She liked to think it was because he got to spend late nights with his long legs resting on her desk and eating donuts while she typed up her reports.

After a few nights of secretly investigating, she had stumbled upon the culprit and then it had been the question of how did she break the news that his fiancée was a superficial slut who deserved to be shot. No, she hadn't been blackmailing him, that had been her father, but she had the nerve to seduce Enrique while the boy had been completely intoxicated. Surprisingly, when she finally worked up the nerve to tell him, Kai had barked out a laugh and said he'd guessed. Guessed! He just wanted proof –which he could have gotten by himself- but then he hadn't wanted to waste money on a PI. She hadn't spoken to him for two weeks after that.

He'd won her over with yellow roses. She had a weakness for them. A single yellow rose arriving each day was pretty romantic and then he'd finished off the gesture by getting her the entire Naruto DVD collection. She was pretty much jelly by that stage. The way to a girls' heart, flowers and an blonde haired ninja. It hadn't taken long for him to tell he still loved her, that the whole 'investigation' had been a way for him to spend time with her without arising suspicion. She called him a manipulative bastard, but she accepted his proposal anyway. She liked to think she was nice like that.

"What are you thinking about?"

She smiled up at her newly wedded husband and smiled softly. "Nothing special."

His eyes glittered with amusement as he rested his forehead against hers. It was clammy from the heat of the lighting and the crush of the crowd that had gathered to witness their union. It didn't bother her. "I thought today was pretty special."

"You thought the drink was pretty special too." She muttered dryly. "How drunk are you because you do you remember what happens on the wedding night, right?"

His lips curved in a devilish smirk. Her hormones went haywire. "How could I forget?"

"Yeah well hopefully I won't want to forget tonight when you can't get it up."

He compressed his lips to stop from laughing out loud. "This isn't the kind of conversation newlyweds should be having on the dance floor. Not when the brides' parents aren't too far away."

"Psh, I think I'm a pretty good indication that they know exactly what happens and that dad wasn't intoxicated on his wedding night."

"Ember." He groaned and dropped his head to her shoulder causing her to giggle when he nipped at the flesh exposed by her off-the-shoulder sleeves. He lifted his head and his eyes were warm as he smiled down at her. "I love you."

"That does not get you an out of jail free card for tonight." She told him pointedly. She wanted a nice –_hot!_- wedding night so she could giggle over it with Mariah –now a school teacher- and embarrass Rei –her Sheriff- with their comparisons. "But I love you too; otherwise I wouldn't have married you. Even Naruto doesn't guarantee instant marriage."

It was funny though. Voltard, miser and asshole extraordinaire, was probably turning in his grave. Who would have imagined that one man's death would have caused so much happiness?

* * *

**THE END**

* * *

**A.N.** Well this is my first completed Beyblade One-shot and I'm pretty pleased with it. So please review. I'm thinking of writing a MariahxRei one next but with university starting very soon, don't be expecting many other updates. I just wanted to get this out so you'll have at least one Beyblade story to read before I go.

**Review!**


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